Creative influences – Artists and their mentors share wall space at Baton Rouge Gallery show

Among the many poignant observations Balzac makes about art within his often-cited short story “The Unknown Masterpiece” is a cautionary tale about closing one’s self off from the outside world in order to create; that in fact, the myth of the lone genius is not only false but detrimental.

In the story, three artists at different phases of their careers—a young novice, his middle-aged idol and an old master—represent the virtues and frailties of each stage. The old master, skillful and self-assured, has been working on a single painting in seclusion for 10 years, and when he finally shows it to the two others, all they can see is “confused masses of color and a multitude of fantastical lines that go to make a dead wall of paint.”

In the end, despite his expertise, the master is so distraught by his failure he burns all his canvases, and as 17th-century fiction would have it, kills himself.

In the exhibition “Under the Influence,” running June 2-27 with an opening reception June 5, Baton Rouge Gallery takes its cue from Balzac and unveils the artistic process to reveal the connection between mentorship and inspiration.

“In this exhibition, BRG artist members will show their work next to the artwork of artists who have either influenced them or who they have mentored,” says Executive Director Jason Andreasen.

This exhibition is a first for BRG, though it has long played a role in supporting budding artists through 20 years of hosting the Real-Life Experience Juried High School Exhibition. The gallery also has attracted national talent by way of the annual Surreal Salon. This show pulls together neophytes and veterans from across the country by using the gallery’s artist membership in a new way.

“This concept came directly from our artist members. Once it was proposed, the idea seemed to swell,” says Andreasen. “The gallery and its artist members felt strongly that it was something interesting and added a new layer to how everyone in the community could appreciate contemporary art. I think this show says a lot about mentorship and the importance of arts education.”

More than 20 artist members are participating in the show, including painter Scott Finch, an artist member since 2002, who invited fellow painter and former classmate George Marks.

“He was the very first art student I met when I went to LSU,” Finch says. “The time we lived and worked together was extremely important to my development as an artist. George did everything in the exact opposite way from me. I worked stupid and hard, he worked smart and relaxed, I believed in every new movement or style that I discovered and George had a singular point of view. We disagreed and collaborated.”

Where Finch found his influence in a peer, artist member and LSU Associate Professor of Painting Kelli Scott Kelley connected with a former mentee, painter Maysey Craddock.

“[She] was living in New Orleans, doing a non-residency master’s program through the Maine College of Art, and needed a local professor to guide her as a part of her program,” Kelley says. “I was recommended and would do critiques with her long-distance. But after she graduated I kept in touch with her and followed her career. I see many parallels in our work and, though I influenced her, she continues to inspire me, too.”

Likewise the mutual exchange of knowledge and insight continues to keep photographer Amy James going back to her professor, photographer Thomas Neff.

“I took the first class he ever taught at LSU in 1983 and continued to take others scattered along the way, through various periods of my life, marriage and divorce,” James says. “I once even brought my toddler to class, so I wouldn’t have to miss it. That toddler is now 27. I plan to take Tom’s last class, whenever that may be.”

From mentors to former students to friends, the power of personal and professional tangencies represented in “Under the Influence” does more than create artifacts of dynamic relationships. It is arguably the impetus of artwork that speaks to the human condition more fully, if only because when art mimics a good friendship, it serves to communicate earnestly and share something meaningful.

“I think this show is an interesting glimpse into the artistic process, because we often imagine that creative people birth things directly from the unconscious, unmediated by the circumstances of their lives,” says Finch. “But art is a discourse, a conversation running through culture across all time.”